Favourites from 2021

 The end of the year is a good time to look back at what we have accomplished in the past 12 months.  Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs hosts and annual "Best of..." party and so I will be linking this post up to her blog.  I have done lots of machine sewing, hand stitching and knitting this year and it is hard to pick out which projects were my favourites.  Here is my best effort!

1. My favourite hand stitching project was "Love Birds"--a counted cross stitch picture that I made for a friend's daughter and her husband as a wedding gift.  They have it hanging on their wall and were very pleased to receive it, even if it was several months after their wedding before I finished it! 

2.  I participated in the Colour Blocks challenge this past year as a way to use up some scrappy 2.5" squares and made several quilts--I still have lots of squares left so there may be more quilts assembled using these colourful scraps! I had lots of blue scraps and made this baby quilt with them. 

 

I also really loved my gray and yellow colour blocks quilt. 

3.  Last year, I made a scrappy red and white Modern Snowflake quilt for a friend.  I wanted to make one for myself this year and used stash fabrics to make this Buffalo plaid version.  I finished hand sewing the binding this week and it is now in use in our great room for the winter months. This was the only sewing I did this past week so I will be linking up with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching party on Sunday morning. The pattern is by Modern Handcraft. 

4. I am happiest when just playing with fabric to make up my own designs and I want to do more of this in the coming year.  I made a wall hanging for a friend for Christmas this year doing just that.

5. I had a couple of sewing goals this past year --use only stash fabrics and try not to buy any fabric except backings and backgrounds. I made lots of quilts using my stash this year including some baby gifts and quilts for family members. Many of them had pieced backs in an effort to use up what I had. Here is one of the quilts I made with only fabrics from my stash, including the backing and binding. I made it to match the colours in the family room of the recipients. 

I bought some fabric online during QuiltCon in February and have been using lots of it in my projects--many of which are still UFO's on my list to complete in 2022. Stay tuned--there should be some finishes early in 2022. 

Happy New Year, everyone!  

I can't have a blogpost without a picture of my favourite grand-dog, Finn and his new squeaky Fox toy!

October UFO's and PomPoms!

I finally made my September block for the Elgin Piecemakers Guild Comfort quilt project this past week! We were each to make a bird block with a gray background.  We had plans to meet outside in September in someone's backyard but it poured rain the night of our meeting and it got cancelled so now, the bird blocks will be handed in with the October blocks this month.  I had already made all of my blocks for the rest of the year in the spring so this was the last one to make for 2021.  I used a Riley Blake pattern I found online. 

My October UFO project is finished!  The hand stitching on the binding was completed last weekend. I even labelled it!

For the back, I had one yard of the dark print fabric and just used some solid yellow fabric to made the backing big enough. I am using what I have rather than purchasing fabric at the moment. 

Since our group's UFO challenge is for one year, and I have well over 20 items on my UFO list, I decided to try to finish a second UFO this month.  This is another charm pack quilt--an effort to use up the charm packs in my stash.  This little quilt will make a great baby gift some day.  I like to have a few baby quilts made ahead of time to be ready with a gift, should the need arise. I am currently about 3/4 done on the machine quilting. 

I am using a pale turquoise thread and the backing fabric is also turquoise. I should be able to finish this quilt by the end of the month. 

Over the past few months, I have been participating in the Toronto Modern Guild Round Robin project.  There are 6 quilters in my group and I have now made something to add to everyone's quilt tops.  This week, I added a border to Tania's quilt. The pink line was on the block--I removed it and then added the borders and then pieced the pink line (with my own pink fabric) back in, extending it into the border.  I happened to have the black and white border print fabric in my stash and it fit right in with Tania's block.  This block is in the mail. 

I added pompoms to my three hats today.  I used a Clover pompom maker. 

Finn loves to rearrange this blanket to make a comfortable nest!

Love Birds was delivered to the newlyweds on Thanksgiving weekend and is now hanging on their wall.  They were thrilled with the picture and frame.  This makes me happy! I managed to finish it and get it to them before their first anniversary in November!

I will be linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers in the morning. 

Hand and Machine Stitching

Welcome to my weekly stitching and knitting report. At the last minute, I decided to make a Black block for my 13th block for my RSC quilt this year. I had lots of fun 2.5" squares to use for this block!  

 Many of you were wondering last week how I was going to use 13 blocks instead of 12 in this quilt top.  Well, you don't have to wait any longer.  Here is the almost finished quilt top.  I still need to add a white border around the entire top. Then, it will go in the pile of "to be quilted" quilts. 

I made a wall hanging this week too but can't show all of it yet.  For now, this sneak peak will have to suffice. 

Today, I pin basted the zig-zag quilt on the kitchen floor and started the quilting.  My repaired sewing machine is working fine now, thankfully.  The second picture shows the walking foot zig zag quilting in two colours--tan thread on the light parts and dark green on the darker parts.  I might be able to finish quilting this one this coming week.  

I did some knitting this week too, adding one more repeat of the cables on my project.  I see a small mistake in the picture but I am not un-knitting it!  

More stitches were added to Dubrovnik this week by my daughter.  I love the vibrant colours in these cityscape cross stitch pictures. 

I tried another blueberry scone recipe this week--also delicious!  These did not last long!

After consulting with the newlyweds, I added their names and wedding date to the Love Birds cross stitch wedding gift as well as my initials as the maker of the gift. 

The picture has been taken to the framers and it will be a few weeks until it is done.  I did a video chat with the bride from the framers to see which frame she liked the best. I will show a picture when it is finished. 

This little cutie is my cousin's grand-daughter, lying on top of her new quilt, made by me last year.  I always request a picture of the baby on the baby quilts I make!

All my sewing this past while resulted in this--an empty spool.  Another one bites the dust!  Luckily, I just happened to have a spare spool of white in my drawer!

My friend and I got a close look at this deer while out walking this week at the park.  We often see deer there but not usually this close. 

These next two pictures were taken at my cousin's farm where he grows all kinds of vegetables and fruit to sell.  Dill and pickling cucumbers are hot sellers at the moment.  Dillicious!

Finn loves his walks each day!  

I will link up with the Slow Sunday Stitcher's at Kathy's blog in the morning. 

So Close to the Finish Line

 The annual Quilt Canada conference took place online over the past few days and while I have been watching the presentations and quilt shows, I have been stitching away on Love Birds. I finished off the green leaves, both dark and light, and I have started on the bride bird.  

I am very close to being finished all the stitching on this project...a wedding gift for a friend's daughter and her husband. (They got married in November 2020.) I have been working on Love Birds since Christmas. 

The pineapple blocks are all done!  Each block will finish at 8" square in the quilt and there are 12 blocks. There are 71 pieces of fabric in each block--those logs are 1/2" wide.  This small wall hanging has 852 pieces of fabric in it.  The quilt will be 24" by 32" when finished. 

You would think that my orange and green scrap bins would be depleted, but no...

I carefully rearranged the blocks today to make sure that there were no matching fabrics touching each other and started sewing them together.  I am pinning each seam in several spots to make sure the seams match. I have been contemplating quilting designs and think I have made a decision.  Stay tuned!

This week's flower colours are red and yellow.  The first flower is a Stella D'Oro Daylily.  Next up, some Dalias in a planter on our patio followed by our first Prickly Pear Cactus bloom. 

We have a mulch pile in our driveway so our job over the next few days is to get it spread on all of the flower gardens.  We did some in the front gardens today until it started to rain.  I love how everything looks when it is all done--so fresh and neat and tidy. 

My knitting project had a few more rows added.  I am getting better at using the double pointed needles. They are made of bamboo so the stitches do not slip off--this is a good thing!

My husband and I celebrated Father's Day on Friday with a take out dinner from a local restaurant and then we went out for ice cream for dessert.  I had Black Cherry- my Dad's favourite flavour and my husband had Orange Pineapple, his Dad's favourite.  

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads and everyone who nurtures someone else!

Finn had a bath this week and is quite fluffy and soft.  My daughter has started a new cityscape! I'm not sure of the city yet.  Finn is very proud of her work even though he doesn't know what place is being depicted yet either. 

I will link up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers at Kathy's blog in the morning. 

Two Finishes and some BOM Blocks

It has been a while since I have had a finished project to share on my blog (besides placemats), and this week, I have two!  This blue colour block quilt is made from 2.5" squares from my blue scrap bin.  I found some really fun crayon fabric for the backing and even added a label already, even though I have not written on it yet.  This quilt will be set aside for a future baby gift. Most of the fabrics repeat in the quilt so lots of fun to be had for some little one trying to find the matching squares. 

The blocks for this next quilt were leftovers from another colour block quilt--this one is gray and yellow.  The large project is not quilted yet but as of this week, it is pin basted and ready to be quilted next.  This is my second small project from the leftovers of the main project...  The backing was in my stash.  The quilting was done with the walking foot on my DSM. I hand stitched the binding today. 

I am almost all caught up on my Modern Block of the Month (BOM) blocks.  I made three more blocks this week. 

I have the pattern for one more block which I hope to make this week.  Next, I will have to figure out how to set them into a quilt top...

 Love Birds moved along at a snail's pace this week.  I spent more time at the sewing machine this week than with my hand stitching. I am getting closer to finishing the wreath of flowers with each stitch. 

Finn lodged a complaint after I posted last week's blogpost.  He did not make an appearance!!!  He has been sporting a donut collar this past week as he has another infection around his mouth, caused by the cone that he had to wear for two weeks due to the previous infection.  More antibiotics and special wipes for the infected areas and he is on the mend, thankfully.  We all hope this is the end of vet visits for a while! To make up for his absence in last week's post, here are two pictures of Finn.  In the first picture, he is supervising my daughter as she organizes her embroidery floss collection.  In the second, he is modelling his "Zen Collar", but not all that happy about wearing it.  He's getting quite fluffy and is in need of a haircut.  

My daughter has finished her Munich cityscape and has been working on a new embroidery picture, a butterfly with flowers. 

The garden has been producing more blooms every day, even though we have a risk of frost tonight!  Last week, our air conditioning was on because is was so hot, and now the heat is back on to take the chill off.  The patio and porch pots of annuals and herbs have all been placed undercover to keep them from being damaged by the frost. 

Wegelia Bush

Blue Jay Columbine

Bachelor Button

Deutzia Bush

We are still mostly locked down here and will slowly reopen based on the percentage of the population that is vaccinated.  My daughter gets her first vaccine this week--Yahoo!  I will link up with Kathy and the Slow stitchers in the morning.